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For over a month, I have not written a word. The words come, but I have been having a form of drought in composition, that was till Saturday. I picked my pen severally between Saturday and Tuesday, wrote different pieces but they still felt inadequate to describe the current events.
A million words kept rushing at me immediately I sat down- there are a lot to write, a lot of thoughts, a lot of emotions.
I first met the General-- no, not really meeting, I watched the General from a close distance at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport Abuja (NAIA), and the tall, elegant General struck me as a personality I can trust, with a docile and humble demeanor. Don't get me wrong, I am not in the Pro-Buhari team, I have my friends doing that, my sympathy has always been with GEJ, another humble and quiet person. At that moment, I stood calmly at the newsstand inside the departure hall, watching the General. I could have switched my allegiance , but that's not me. I am one who joins you to fight for a cause till the end, that cause was the re-election of President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, a mission unaccomplished, nevertheless I am happy that I didn't abort.
I first stood in the same room with President GEJ in 2012, and I loved what I saw and gradually changed the opinion I had of him when I confirmed that power never changed him, he remained humble and sensitive, but I can't say same for those he surrounded himself with, as they pushed the ship off to a rudderless sail, forgive me for this, but that is the truth. I came to understand why Jonathan was a humble lieutenant in Bayelsa and later at Aso Rock. Why when President Umaru Musa Yaradua died, he was calm, humble and patient till the constitution was followed, implemented and power handed over to him. This attribute and many more that has been over flogged gave him the massive votes and goodwill that his cabinet helped him fritter and totally squander while disconnecting gradually, then completely from the masses.
I have never met Professor Attahiru Jega, but I sincerely love what I have seen over the years, a man who has been an umpire with class and wisdom beyond what we have come to see and associate with in Nigerian referees-- especially when there is wealth and inducement around the corner. A character that chose a sterling name and image to an unnecessary and undeserved glory. Of a truth, a few can do what Jega has done, because I cannot begin to imagine the pressures that come with that office if what I see on the streets daily makes perfect sense.
Now, let me get back to the first thing that prompted me to write this piece, March 28th, 2015-Nigerian Presidential election. I remember some of the articles Dele Momodou wrote on both contestants, and the open letters he wrote to the sitting president, the advices from him and other quarters. I can't say if they were read or not, if they were heeded or not, but I know one thing for sure, the game actually changed when Dele Momodou wrote that article on how the General has changed his political garb and become more attuned with the times, and how he is seeing the emergence of true opposition capable of building a stronghold and unseating this government. I read some other articles on how the APC will put up a good fight now, but was not ready for the centre [we can now tell if they were right], at that time, I agreed, but now, I am not sure, let's see if they will implode like some prophesied. APC has been carefully grafted and guided by Asiwaju Ahmed Bola Tinubu, a birthday mate [an Arian] and a man I love to hate.
The change mantra caught up fast, simply because PDP started acting like a party bereft of ideas-- then war started on twitter streets, jumped into other social media platforms-boy! Was it easy? Phew! I prefer writing my poems and short stories, because then, I can create and destroy any character or illusion I want by scribbling something on my pad. Twitter was so interesting, and the originality, word play,banter and the waves that came with it showcased the versatility, knowledge and Suave of the young Nigerian mind. We are a fearful force if unified against the ills of the society, a tornado if we become this passionate and patriotic, as no nation, politician or individual can stand before us. I remember a popular one that stirred the hornets nest " election is not won on twitter" to which @omojuwa replied " and we took the war to the streets", @radicalyouthman didn't disappoint either,two parallel but similar twitter Generals.
Nigeria is the true winner in the election for so many reasons. The three agents of change performed their duties with credibility and sure sense of purpose, but the Nigerian public controlled the fourth and the fifth realm, and we now know: (1) That when we sneeze, politicians will listen. (2) We have re-written the political equation, roadmap and pattern of events in this country, birthing two strong political parties that will now genuinely take a slug at each other. (3) We have instituted the process of free, fair and credible elections in the country. (4) We can collectively change or break monopoly of party irrespective of how rich, politically balanced or schooled in scientific and tactical manipulations of results they are- APC should take note, they should build on a transparent process,nothing less will be enough and accepted. They should continuously and repeatedly seek the path of truth and fairness, well spoken in the words of Aristotle that " We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, therefore is not an act, but a habit". Nigerians gave PDP sixteen years (16 years) to build the nation and make us true giants again, that sixteen years yielded so many good results and so many negatives too. APC should be rest assured that we won't wait for another sixteen years to sweep them away with their brooms if they don't lead the country well on the foundations of fairness, truth, equity, growth and transparency.
I hope I have not digressed, I have been pro-GEJ through and through, and he earned my respect with his attitude, reaction and utterances throughout the prelude to the election (barring some campaign stuff), he promised Nigerians free, fair and credible election- also during and after the contest, where he stretched forth his hands and showed good sportsmanship by congratulating the president elect Gen. Muhammadu Buhari, before the actual result was released. This is by any means no mean feat. Disagree if with me if you like, call me names if you want, but he was and still is the first agent of change. He was the initiator of the process, starting with accepting to oversee the same process that will remove him from the office. This brings to mind an interview I watched, where he said " maybe, I will become the first sitting president to lose election, and hand over to the opposition. If that happens, we would have achieved something great, because we will make history as we won't subvert such a process". Maybe he had premonition, but the truth remains that his conduct has been quite commendable, giving professor Attahiru Jega the platform to become the second change agent and thereby entering the Pantheon of immortality in our country and writing his name in gold. Even if the opposition refuse to accept this, they know that he had the office, might and control to swing everything in his favour, even at the risk of plunging the country into crisis. He allowed the nation to come first, Kudos!
The second agent of change did not disappoint either. I know quite clearly that he would have faced all forms of temptations, direct and indirect inducements and bribery attempts, he stood up and got counted. Don't ask me how I got to know because I am a Nigerian, and we believe everyone and everything has a price. To the Prof, I say " you have done well, even with the challenges, you conquered, history will always remember you well and children unborn will be told your tales" , please don't bungle the 11th of April.
I know that the third agent of change is a gentleman and distinguished soldier who has the rigid military government as the only chink in his armour. He has doggedly persisted when many would have given up, he always said "it is because of my love for this country". I have listened severally to his acceptance speech, I sense no falsehood, even as he emphasizes change, speaks hope and institutes a new dawn. Don't think that those who didn't vote for you hate change-- nope, on the contrary, change is one thing we individuals crave for. Rather, note that people are sometimes skeptical, and some sections of the country are yet to heal. You have been stately calm and cultured, most of your supporters are not. The rapid hate attacks on a particular tribe on the social media by some people calling for total genocide,annihilation and extermination of (the Igbo's) said tribe and the haste that they got retweets (I won't dignify the bigots with mentioning them here) and follower-ship the hate gospel mongrels got, sent chills down my spine. I looked at my three innocent sons who are growing in Abuja and making friends across ethnic and cultural divides and my heart sank. It sank because I see my generation teaching another innocent one hate. The speed and expertise with which the sitting president's posters, banners and billboards were destroyed in the North and FCT scared me, I well know that it can't happen in the South if the situation and events were reversed. You are a great man, imbued with meekness and wisdom, the goodwill that was sent to Otuoke four years ago has landed in Daura, do not renege on the promises in your opening/acceptance speech. Nigerians will die for their country when they see good, committed and patriotic leadership; and please let your chieftains reign in their rabid-attack dogs( no one has monopoly of violence), we are all stakeholders in this great nation and victims of our individual births as no one chose the tribe he now comes from.
To those of us who lost this election, not because we didn't hear the change train coming nor because we don't love Nigeria enough, but because we were already on a train losing focus, running out of ideas and needing a new thing to stimulate, electrify and sensitize us to the fact that the power truly belongs to the people and also the glaring truth that we are maturing fast politically, and I say in the words of Alexander Graham Bell --" when one door closes, another opens; but we often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door that we do not see the one which opened for us". Interprete this according to your understanding , but get the lessons in this whole episode.
Permit me to now introduce the winner, the victor, the person who came out smiling; that is the Nigerian populace, the masses who decided that they will either not come out (as in SE) because their governors failed in most states or the other states (like Benue etc) who decided that they have had enough. The masses who would have been turned one against another if things had failed at the centre while our leaders board the next available flights with their children to their various mansions all over the globe. The ones whose blood would have turned to streams and rivers on our streets and paved ways, whose infrastructure would have been destroyed and irreparable damages inflicted on. Even if the underaged had not voted in the North, PDP would have still lost because I don't believe their votes were up to one million. Having said my mind, we are stronger and wiser now, we have realized the enormous powers we wield and that those we send to Abuja must be accountable and answerable to us. What is now left is to exercise the other power " the power to recall the Abuja politicians" when they fail. We may no longer wait for a period of four years for change. GOD BLESS NIGERIA! !
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